A Visit to Cuzco

I am staying in Cusco which is an amazing place! It was the capital of the Inca empire and is a beautiful colonial city. It is a very special place - There is so much history here!

It is a place where 2 different civilizations of the old and new worlds met. Although the spanish destroyed the Inca city and built their own - there is still so much of the Inca heritage here. The Inca spirit lives on in the people who are mostly 'mezito' - mixed spanish and Inca ancestry.

The architecture is quite amazing, the paving and lower parts of the walls of all the city's buildings are the original Inca stonework, which is beautiful. The precision of the stone work is amazing! On top of this the spanish built their own stone walls which are much less precise and refined. The result is a great mixture of architecture. There are very few original inca buildings left but I went to one yesterday, the Sun Temple which once had walls completely covered with gold! The spanish looted all the gold so now only the stonework is left.

The cathedral is also amazing. It was built in the smae style as the spanish cathedrals of the 16th on the site of the main Inca temple. It was the most significant in south america in the introduction of Christianity to the South America. At the alter is the first cross brought to South America from Spain by the bishop accompanying Pizzarro when he first conquered the city in 1534.

I am staying in a hostel set in beautiful old colonial house 300-400 years old. It has a central square with arches around it. It has a lot of bean bags and a table tennis table is not luxurious - I am in a dorm room with 10 beds! It has a friendly and bohemian feel to it and is a lot of fun.

Cosco is very high altitude - 3400m. For the first 2 days I didnt do much as I had mild altitude sickness - a constant headache and felt quite tired. Walking up stairs was hard work. I am now a lot more acclimatized and feeling a lot better.

My Spanish is coming on slowly. In reality you dont have a choice but to learn Spanish - no one speaks English!

Around the city are many Inca ruins. i have visited quite a few of these and tomorrow I am starting a 4 day trek through the mountains that will finish at the most famous Inca site, Machu Pichu, which will be a highlight.

After the trek and Machu Pichu I am off to Lima to visit Monica which should also be great!